The Ark
by Gainis
Summary: The Ark has been in space for two generations, ever since a gamma ray burst destroyed the Argon home world. When the Argon astronomer's first detected the gamma ray burst it was determined that they had 150 years before the end, in that time, they built 10 Arks
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The Ark has been in space for two generations, ever since a gamma-ray burst destroyed the Argon homeworld. When the Argon astronomer's first detected the gamma-ray burst it was determined that they had 150 years before the end, in that time, they built 10 Arks. Our Ark was Ark 4, but everyone just referred to it as the Ark. It was a hollowed out asteroid approximately 30km by 20km by 20km and home to 30 million souls.

They had a fleet of shuttles and three large cargo ships for transporting people and supplies from the surface of the Argon. The Aragonese would be getting their raw materials from asteroids they encountered on their journey. They constructed a fleet of tugs to be used in mining asteroids.

Once underway, the cargo ships were repurposed into asteroid processors.

When they left Argon, each chose a different direction since they did not yet have a viable FTL drive their top speed was limited to 0.5 C. For the first 50 years they all communicated regularly, Two Arks found suitable planets and an another 3 joined them. One Ark found an alien race and the last we heard from them was that they were being boarded.

As a result of this attack, plasma weapons were developed and installed on the Arks. They rebuilt the shuttles into a type of fighter bomber to protect their mining operations. Ark 4 voted on whether to join the other Arks at the habitable planets or keep going; they decided to keep looking for a home of their own.

The Ark is a closed biosphere with farms for food, forested areas, and lakes. It had six habitable levels each approximately 100 square kilometers and each having a population of 5 million people. Two levels were left for forests and the massive fusion reactors the Ark required for its power requirements. This made for a crowded existence but not as crowded as some of the cities on Argon. The space around the populated levels was constantly being converted into open areas for parks/forests and hydroponic gardens. Minerals would come from asteroids and any shortfall in water could also be found in the many asteroids they encountered along the way. Electrolysis would be used to split water into its constituent elements, hydrogen, and oxygen. Power came from fusion reactors that ran on hydrogen and helium 3. They are both available from the solar wind. Helium 3 will also be collected from asteroids and moons that they pasted on their journey. Hydrogen can be collected with a magnetic scoop anywhere in space, with the heaviest concentrations being close to stars.

The original design had the Arks accelerating at 1g to create gravity but this caused a multitude of problems least of which was the power requirements. So, each Ark's created a science department, that was given limitless resources, to work on different areas of physics. One found a way to create gravity plates. While the Arks were still being hollowed out. Another, after we left, developed a way to transmute elements; they shared this via a conference call between all of the Arks. During these calls, our scientists shared where they were on creating a space-time bubble, as we were tasked with developing an FTL drive. Several years later we created our first FTL drive.

(Main conference room on the Ark)

Admiral Jackson, who was both the most senior military officer and also was the expedition leader called the meeting.

"Ok, people let get this meeting underway"

The first order business is to create a defensive fleet of 15 to 20 cruisers both for exploration when we stop in a solar system and defense.

He motioned to the defense secretary, Robert Burns.

"Who moved to the podium and continued"

These ships will be FTL capable and have plasma weapons and shields. The plasma weapons are the same as we installed on the Ark, and are an outgrowth of what the miners use to cut asteroids into manageable pieces. For the shields, a Graphene coating six inches thick will cover the entire ship. Graphene has a property that when exposed to a super-strong magnetic field, it creates a shield, this shield or field emanates out from the Graphene to several meters. When a projectile enters the shield, it will be slowed down causing it to change its kinetic energy into heat destroying itself in the process. And, the magnetic field itself will provide protection against plasma. Also, remember for protection from solar radiation our ships already had hulls that are 15 meters thick. So these two features should give us some measure of protection in most situations.

(Nine months later)

The Ark arrived in a star system with two other nearby stars. Adm. Jackson called the navigation officer, Commander Wells, to bridge.

Commander Wells, I want you to supervise setting up radio telescopes on a suitable moon.

We will be in the system mining asteroids, for about six months you will have four months to do a complete a survey of the surrounding systems. We will then be able to plan our next move.

As you discover habitable planets, we will immediately dispatch a cruiser to investigate. About three weeks later Commander Wells asked to see Adm. Jackson,

"He entered the admiral's. quarters and reported"

Adm. Jackson, "Wells started," approximately 4 1/2 ly from here we found a planet that has both water and an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere. T he cruiser Cirrus under the command of Capt. Berkley was sent to investigate.

(The cruiser Cirrus, in the newly discovered system)

The cruiser came out of FTL mode behind a large blue gas giant. The system had eight planets with several planetoids much farther out from the star.

There was a large fleet encircling the third planet from the sun.

"Lieut. Simpson, the communications officer," was recording the electromagnetic radiation coming from the planet and fleet. Just, as they were getting a translation from the computer, a ship appeared off the Cirrus port bow.

Captain Berkeley ordered the crew to general quarters, "shields up and all weapons manned." get the AI working translating any signals from that ship.

"Lieut. Simpson spoke up", Adm. We have a translation, to which the Admiral replied, put it on the speaker.

"Unknown vessel, this is the Battlestar Triton. Please stand down and be prepared to be boarded".

"To which Captain Berkeley responded," Battlestar Triton this is the cruiser Cirrus of the Argon Federation, we will not allow you to board us and are prepared to defend ourselves. We are peaceful travelers and are not looking for any form of conflict. We are transmitting a video feed in the same electromagnetic range you use.

Lieut. Emerson scan all the frequencies and see if you could pick up a video signal from them.

In a few minutes, a man in a blue uniform standing in what appeared to be the bridge of a ship appeared on their view screens.

A surprised look appeared on his face; I am Commander Anders of the "12 colonies of Kobol". We were let to believe Earth did not have any space-capable ships!

To which Capt. Berkley replied we are not from Earth. While we both appear to be humanoid I'm not sure we have identical DNA. Also, Commander Anders, we have scanned your ship, and we have found except for two individuals you all show as human.

"Commander Anders then asked," Capt. Berkley, it is important that we verify this for ourselves can you send us a copy of your DNA. Capt. Berkley replied we will send a small drone with our DNA so you can verify.

Both ships sat in space facing each other for about an hour.

When the viewscreen became active again, Commander Anders reappeared.

It appears that our DNA is close enough for us to consider you to be human, as such you fall under the Articles of Colonization, so I repeat my request by the power invested in me from the Lords of Kobol. You will stand down and be prepared to be boarded.

To which Capt. Berkeley replied, "No we will not stand down, and we will defend ourselves.

"The tactical officer said," They are powering up weapons and launching fighters, some of those fighters have nukes.

"Capt. Berkley was quick to order," con hard left and 30° up, tactical if they fire, return fire, but under no circumstance fire first.

Bow beam, concentrate, on their ship. Dorsal beams get rid of those fighters with nukes.

The Triton fired its forward KEW's and scored two hits on the Cirrus; The Cirrus shook violently,

"Capt. Berkley asked," tactical any damage.

The tactical officer replied, no but if they hit us several more times or happen to get two shots at the same location, I believe they will get through the shields. I am calculating the effects on the hull now. Here are the results; four or five hits in the same location will penetrate our hull. Our plasma beams are cutting into their hulls causing massive explosions. They are launching missiles with nukes, but we can easily outrun them as they are powered with chemical rockets. Tactical advises that we keep moving to avoid being hit in the same location while our plasma beams are taking their ships apart and sweeping space clean of missiles and fighters. As long as we are careful and keep moving, we outclass them, they only hit us cause we were not yet up to speed. With that, the Cirrus entered hyperspace.

(Back at the Ark)

Capt. Berkeley was summoned to the admiral's ready room and ordered to report.

"Capt. Berkeley started," Admiral, we ran into another race of humans they had ships called battle stars and although several of them could do damage to one of our ships on a ship to ship basis we outclass them. Our shields offer a measure of protection from their KEW weapons and nukes, the thick hulls will provide some protection from the blast of their nukes while the magnetic field will block out the radiation. But make no mistake they can wear us down, with a nuke tearing away large areas of grapheme and then the KEW weapons penetrating the hull.

Our plasma weapons were very effective in penetrating their hulls and could cut them up as if they were an asteroid. Our beams easily dealt with their fighters.

"To which Adm. Jackson replied," recommendations

"Capt. Berkeley continued," When attacking their ships, I would recommend concentrating on the same location, to penetrate into the interior of the ships. The two most sensitive areas appear to be just ahead of their engine block and the head which resembles an alligator head. We need a way to replace the Graphene coating when it is penetrated or damaged by their weapons. I recommend it's a skill that our damage control teams quickly develop. Also, to a certain degree, their nukes and missiles are an unknown factor at this time. Our best defense is our speed, and our ability to regenerate our shields.

We need smaller ships dedicated to dealing with their missiles and fighters. When sending a cruiser would not be practical.

My crew's performance was outstanding but, we need an AI targeting system to control the beams to guard against being swarmed with missiles.

Also, we should get tactical to simulate various size nuclear explosions against our hull. Our sensors should tell us the size of their nukes.

"Adm. Jackson stood up," Anything more you would like to add Capt. Berkeley, who replied, as you'll see from the transmissions we recorded, I think they were attacking a planet in that system.

"Adm. Jackson turns to his Chief of Staff," yes I believe Capt. Berkeley is correct there was a battle of some kind going on there.

"Okay, Capt. Berkeley he continued"

I want you to return to the system where the battle was taking place, you will have five cruisers with you. And you will be in overall command.

"The Admiral turned to Capt. Barns," I want you to put a team together to implement Capt. Berkeley recommendations were possible. Send out a copy of this battle to be reviewed by all ship commanders. We can't stress too much the importance of speed and maneuverability when encountering the Kobolians. "Dismissed"

(On the bridge of the Cirrus, in the newly discovered system)

The Cirrus entered the system where the battle took place, the fleet was gone.

"The communication officer spoke up," we are getting a message from the planet.

"Capt. Berkeley replied," put it on the speaker.

Kobolian ship, as we stated before we do not consider ourselves to be part of the 12 colonies of Kobol, we will never accept the Lords of Kobol, as our gods and will continue to resist you.

"Capt. Berkley replied," we are not part of the 12 colonies of Kobol. We were harvesting asteroids in a nearby system and detected your system and the battle. We sent a ship to investigate.

"A man appeared on the view screen."

"Capt. Berkley continued," Like I said we were mining asteroids in a system 4 1/2 ly from here, and one of their ships attacked us when we sent a ship to investigate. Saying we were part of some federation, and we fell under their jurisdiction.

"Capt. Berkley then asked for a face to face meeting," The person on the view screen stated that he would be back in a moment.

The man returned with two other individuals one was in a military uniform and the other in civilian clothes. We have to pick a place where we can ensure both yours and our security.

They set up a meeting on a ship at sea.

Capt. Berkeley selected his tactical officer and the three Ark administrators who Adm. Jackson attached to Capt. Berkeley command for this occasion.

They landed on the flight deck of a large ship. The tactical officer leaned over to Capt. Berkeley and said I'll bet you my next paycheck this is a helicopter carrier. It's nice to see all that time you spent watching their old war movies had some value, replied Capt. Berkeley.

An escort met them and took them to a room one of the escorts referred to as the wardroom. There were about ten people in the room most appeared to be military, but there were a few civilians also. One of the civilians a female stepped forward and said I am Ambassador Anderson won't you please have a seat.

Capt. Berkeley spoke up and said Ambassador would you allow me to tell you our history and we will go from there. We come from a planet called Argon, "The Argon Federation." About two generations ago roughly 160 years our time, a Gamma Ray Burst struck our planet. We had enough lead time to build ten Arks to find a new home. To our best knowledge, several of them did. But, we did not. We have been traveling the stars looking for a home that is how we found you.

Ambassador Anderson replied; tell me Capt. do you believe in coincidences. Before Capt. Berkeley could answer she replied well I don't and you ask me to believe that we've been visited by two alien races in less than several months' time while being alone for thousands of years, if not millions. Also, I would like to point out that this planet is already taken.

Well, ambassador as strange as it may sound, "yes." And we have no designs on your planet.

Tell me how you came to meet the Kobolians. To which the ambassador replied. The Kobolians believe we are their long lost cousins and they were here to bring us back into the fold. At first, a large percentage of the population was quite happy until we realize that what they meant was we would have to accept their religion and being absorbed by their government.

One of their priests entered a cathedral. He demanded that the service end and all the people leave. When he started destroying things the priest conducting the service called the police, and when they tried to escort him out, he called, some of his soldiers. A gunfight broke out and quickly escalated to a gun battle.

Rioting and fighting broke out wherever they had landed, and they quickly retreated into space.

They started dropping nukes on our military installations and landing large numbers of troops. In some areas we contained them, but in others, they look like they were ready to break out, so we nuked them. They said they did not want to render the planet uninhabitable but they could, and we should reconsider our position. With that, they left that was about two weeks ago.

We've only been to our moon and were in the process of getting ready to visit one of the nearby planets.

"One of the individuals with Capt. Berkeley interjected," I guess you could refer to me as the ambassador for the Ark. Perhaps you would be open to a trade agreement.

Everyday items that you can manufacture we have to create by transmutation. The process requires considerable energy, and drugs that were once widely used simply are no longer available to us. We lack the manufacturing space to build the infrastructure to support our society.

In return, we could help you build defenses satellites that would circle your planet. We were not much more advanced than you are now when we first left our home world. Of course, I will have to review all this with my superiors before we could have a final answer.

One other thing, we have access to your communications and are reviewing them. I wanted you to know this up front so that you did not feel that we were spying on you or taking some unfair advantage, the signals are in space for anyone with a receiver to monitor, you may want to re-think that. With that, the meeting broke up, and they returned to the Cirrus.

On the way back to the Cirrus Capt. Berkeley said, well Clyde I like the way you gave yourself a promotion to an ambassador, Berkeley, I am a high councilor, and I do outrank you. Not when we get back to the Cirrus Capt. Berkeley said with a grin.

(Back at the Ark)

Adm. Jackson called for a meeting of the Supreme Council and Capt. Berkeley's and his senior officers. Well, what do we know, let's go around the table and everybody state what they found out in their area of expertise.

The first to stand was Adm. Jackson's intelligence officer, we have been monitoring their communication, and they have this thing they called the Internet, a system much as we had back on Argon, it has their entire history and probably a lot more than they would like us to know. Technologically, they were about where we were when we first started launching Arks. Maybe a little behind but they didn't have a gamma-ray burst staring them in the face, of course, they've got the Kobolians to push them.

Their encounter with the Kobolians will drive their development.

Fortunately for them, they have us, and we could save them some lives. Also, we could get as many aspirins from them as we will ever need, and if I lived to be 100, the engineers would never be able to explain to me, why it takes almost as much energy to create an aspirin tablet as it does a pellet of uranium.

Chancellor Clyde stood; I too have been reviewing what I learned from our meeting and what is on this Internet of theirs. I am all for helping them in any way we can. I think we should redouble our efforts to find a planet nearby to settle on they can be a great resource for us. I know as we all suspect that a fair amount of our population will want to continue the quest. The Ark is big enough that a person could get lost. Hell, about the only activity that you can't do is long-distance sailing, there are even two levels that are forested and void of any people, that's over 800 km². But there is another subset of people that would like to find a planet to settle on.

Adm. Jackson then asked for an update from the radio telescopes.

Commander Wells said we had conducted a survey around the planet Earth out to about 250 ly. And we found some interesting things. About 20 ly from Earth there is a system with two possibly three habitable planets there is also a large object of some kind circling one of the planets. The astronomers believe it to be artificial. I believe as does the rest of my department that this is where the Kobolians are.

On another subject the moon that circles earth always has one side of it facing out to deep space, we should ask them to allow us to install a large radio telescope on it and share the info with them. The people we would leave behind would be able to stay there for a few years, and if they have an FTL capable ship, they would be able to rejoin us.

Adm. Jackson stood up and said with the agreement of the counsel we are going to send ten cruisers to the system we believe to be Kobolian. Also, we will send another delegation back to earth to arrange for us to commence trading with them. And aid them in setting up satellites for their defense. I would also like the council to discuss this and back me up, or voice their concerns, since this may get us into a shooting war, we should also get the AI to list all the possible outcomes, This is a decision I don't feel one person should make.

(Gliese 667)

Capt. Berkeley and his small fleet entered the Gliese 667, as known by Earth. It was a triple star system, and it had two habitable planets and many moons. They exited hyperspace behind a large moon and quickly went to complete radio silence. The Argon's launched a probe. The probe created back on the Ark to appear as an asteroid. Almost immediately the Kobolian language was detected.

The tactical officer reported I have a large build-up of energy several kilometers in front of their station, with that and a flash of light a large square ship appeared and immediately began preceding down to the surface of the planet.

(24 hours later)

Okay, it's time to wake up the Kobolians; we haven't detected any form of subspace communication so let's first relay all the data we collected via subspace link back to the Ark. And since we are going to reveal ourselves anyway if they detect the transmission, we should see some response; this will tell us something about their capabilities. After several hours had passed, there was still no sign of any unusual activity from the Kobolians.

I count 30 battle stars with support ships plus the station. Both squadrons assume attack formation Delta with the outside two ships targeting nuclear-armed fighters and missiles. If you start taking any damage, jump immediately to hyperspace.

With this Capt. Berkeley ordered his fleet to proceed to 10,000 km in front of the station. As soon as they left their sanctuary behind the moon, he began transmitting a message saying we only wish to talk we have no hostile intentions. The view screen was activated, and a colonial officer appeared.

I am Adm. Cain of the colonial earth expedition fleet. You have entered colonial space, please stop and be prepared to be boarded. Lieut. Emerson said under his breath, "God is that the only thing these people now." Admiral, we only wish to talk with you and to repeat we have no hostile intent. When two of the opposing battle stars began powering up weapons, the fleet proceeded to attack formation Delta as previously ordered. All the battle stars began to deploy their Vipers. Adm. Cain repeated if you do not stop I will be forced to fire on you.

To which Capt. Berkeley replied if you power down your weapons I will stop. Capt. I am an admiral in the colonial fleet, and I don't take orders from captains. Stop immediately!

The closest four battle stars to the Argon ships open fire but by this time the Argon ships were at one-quarter C and all their shots went wide. Adm. Cain yelled out those ships are unbelievably fast; plot their speed and lead them accordingly with your next shot, ripple fire our forward missile batteries. All battle stars come to bear on these intruders. The Argon ships went up 30° and turned around to take their pass at the battle stars. A blue bolt of lightning appeared in the front of each ship, and eight hits were recorded on the battle stars once again they did not have enough time to target the Argon ships. The outside Argon cruisers were able to spread out and sustained their beams by reducing the beam's power. This allowed them to sweep thru the unarmored fighters and missiles with ease. The next pass was straight and level, Capt. Berkeley immediately saw this was a mistake and ordered his ships up 90°, but it was too late the remaining battle stars, were able to score six hits on the Argon ships.

The captains of the Winston and the Monrovia reported that they were still operational, but the Winston had minor damage to several decks. The Monrovia reported no damage. The Argon ships were now above the Kobolians. Capt. Berkeley ordered them to make a diving pass on the Kobolians. For the next 30 minutes, the Argon ships kept coming at the Kobolians from different angles while avoiding a frontal attack.

When it became apparent that all of the battle stars were suffering from substantial battle damage Captain Berkeley ordered his fleet to assemble 20,000 km on the port side of the Kobolian ships.

Tactical what is your assessment?

They're all venting atmosphere, and all appear to be disabled, with six of them out of control and floating off in different directions. I do not believe they are a threat to us any longer. But, be aware the space station still has weapons. But at this time they seem to be powered down. Capt. Berkley ordered his fleet to proceed closer to the disabled Kobolians while keeping them between the Argon ships and the space station.

Adm. Cain, this is Capt. Berkeley, will you speak to me now or would you like me to finish off what remains of your pitiful presence in this sector?

Capt. Berkeley this is Adm. Cain, we will stand down since we no longer have the capability to resist you.

Adm. Cain are you the senior officer present, "yes."

The Cirrus XO said Capt. Berkeley, what's with the "pitiful presence," comment; well these people only seem to understand arrogance so I thought I would just throw it back at them.

Adm. Cain you are ordered to remove all of your people from this sector you have 48 hours.

Capt. Berkeley this is Adm. Cain, yes we will comply.

Please take a minute and review


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

(The Oval Office USA Earth)

Pres. Wilkinson walked to the center of the room; I would like to welcome our guests from the Argon Federation, Adm. Jackson would you care to start.

What I would like to do is to establish the guidelines for trading between our two societies. We would be willing to aid you in building defensive satellites for your planet. For this, we would like to purchase on the open market drugs and manufactured items. We would also be willing to bring back to earth the remains of the Colonial ships at Gliese 667. Although the ships would not be FTL capable at this time, it would give you the basis of a space fleet.

Pres. Wilkinson interjected Admiral you referred to them as Colonial what happened to" Kobolian" to which the admiral replied. Their ancestors came from the planet Kobol, but they refer to themselves as "Colonial".

Adm. Jackson continued, another need of ours is manpower to this end I would like for your militaries to allow medical officers and engineering officers to serve on our ships for a limited period. I don't know the numbers at this time, but I don't envision it being more than a few hundred. When these people return to their respected services, the knowledge they gained would be invaluable. Also under our direction, we would like you to provide the manpower to rebuild the Colonial ships and construct a space station.

We don't know when or if the Colonials, will return but we should be ready for any eventuality.

The President interjected, I think you are very generous and most of what you ask is doable. But as you know we are a planet of many different nations how will you decide which ones you will include and which ones will be left out.

To which Adm. Jackson replied anything we give you whether it's physical or scientific knowledge would be available to all the nations with the one caveat being that they have a government that is democratically elected. I believe our best course of action would be to work through your United Nations, but personally, we do not like the way it is set up. But, we do not believe it is our place to dictate anything to you maybe this could be discussed at a future time in a more informal setting.

We are going to explore the possibility of settling on one of the planets at Gliese 667, and even if we don't, we will still be here for several years.

(Gliese 667 one year later)

The Ark was in orbit around the planet Argon2; they found the planet to be an ideal place for them to settle it had large oceans that covered about 65% of the planet. It had both mountains and vast plains, with a temperate climate. The other habitable planet has a polar climate that limited life to the areas around the equator. But it was much richer in natural resources which were recoverable.

Adm. Jackson and the liaison from Earth were in the Arks port landing bay waiting for the arrival of the general secretary of the United Nations. Both the American president and the president of the Russian Republic would join him. Adm. Jackson said, tell me, ambassador, before this meeting gets underway what is your assessment of your planet's progress.

The ambassador replied well things have gone in some ways much quicker than I ever imagined and in other ways much slower. You have greatly advanced our medical knowledge, but we are no closer to some of your space technologies then we were when you first arrived. A viable FTL drive comes to mind.

You forget ambassador we never intended just to gift you our technologies. You would not have been able to maintain them without our involvement.

You have people in our universities, and no subjects are off-limits to them plus your engineering officers are serving in all departments on our ships. Soon enough you will be on par with us. To which the ambassador replied, yes but for both our sakes I just hope it is before the Colonials return.

The ship landed, with the envoys from Earth, "Adm. Jackson greeted them," and exchanged the standard diplomatic niceties. Everyone was directed to a conference room that was set up for this meeting.

The general secretary stood up and said before our arriving here we held a meeting with all the major powers on earth and discussed where we are at and what we would like to accomplish in the future. We have successfully rebuilt three of the battle stars that you towed Earth. The hulls of the other six just were just too far gone. Their fuel tanks had exploded tearing the hulls apart, or the Colonials scuttled them by exploding nukes in them. We even feel we made two improvements to them we were able to install 406mm rail guns in place of their 230mm KEW weapons. And to polarize their outside hull plating which although not quite as strong as your shields it doubled their resistance to the Colonial KEW weapons.

We use fusion reactors of our design and an ion/plasma drive that we had been developing. Although we can't be sure from the info, you provided we believe these ships to be slightly quicker than the Colonial battle stars.

We would like you to scale back your recruitment of workers for spaceborne projects. We are competing for the same people.

But our military would like to expand the officer reassignment program.

Adm. Jackson took the floor and replied, I don't see any problems here since we are getting more and more people every day settled on Argon2 that is freeing up people for spaceborne projects. And expanding the officer reassignment program fits nicely with our expanding our fleet to 30 cruisers and anti-fighter destroyers.

Several of our ships captains wanted to go the fighter route for anti-fighter defense. But a small destroyer with beams set to a wide dispersion angle is just too affected. There is still a use for fighters but not in the numbers the Colonial use.

High counselor Robert Clyde asked if he could have the floor. Adm. Jackson nodded to him, and he stood up. As you may or may not know we have a very sophisticated AI program, whenever we have an important decision to make, we use this program to give us a second opinion. One of the things that keep popping up is if we are to continue this successful collaboration we need to explore and understand the cultural differences in both our societies. We need to have a program where you send people to work and study in our industries and universities. And we do the same to yours.

One of the Aragonese spoke up, would our people get anything out of there science and math courses. To which Clyde responded I had the same concerns, but I don't believe we would have a lot of people taking science courses. There are a great many other disciplines that our people would benefit from.

With this, the meeting broke up, and the Earth's envoys were invited to enjoy the hospitality of the Ark. They could experience the nightlife or if they choose they could engage in the many outdoor activities that are available.

(8 Months after the battle of Gliese 667)

President Adar office, 12 colonies of Kobol

Adm. Cain, it seems to us that you got your butt handed to you, care to explain.

I don't believe that the humans that attacked us at our resupply station were from Earth. Their technology was just too advanced. Their ships were both well armed and very fast. We had problems targeting them. We only scored hits on them when they made a mistake, which I do not believe they will repeat. The battle star Triton encountered one of their ships in a neighboring star system. The Triton reported that they appeared to be conducting a mining operation. After a brief battle, the Triton was barely able to return to the fleet.

Their primary weapon is a plasma beam, which they used against both our ships and Vipers and Raptors. The beams used against our capital ships would bore into the hull, and the beam used against the Vipers was less intense and had a shorter range, but it could sweep through our Viper formations.

Their ship to ship tactics is more like those of a fighter than ours or the

Cylons capital ship engagements.

One other thing when they scanned the Triton they said something very interesting. It appeared to them that the crew of the Triton was all human except for two.

The senior Quorum member from Gemenese stood up and started yelling we must immediately return and wipe this stain clean.

President Adar said, "We just lost 23 battle stars," do you wish to lose another 23. We first have to understand what we are dealing with and have a viable military plan.

Adar if you don't order an immediate response then I will declare a holy war. And the full might of the colonial Navy will be forced to respond.

Adm. Nagala you and your senior staff remain. I hear by adjourned this meeting. Adar asked Adm. Nagala to formulate a plan of action. "Yes sir," replied Nagala, but I believe we should immediately dispatch a drone.

(Gliese 667)

Mining tug D.O. 21 was collecting small asteroids for processing when it came across a small asteroid that gave off a slight power signature. The mining tugs were fully automated and controlled by the processor. On the processor the mining operator, Jeff Small called his supervisor.

What do you have Jeff, looks like we have something that was made to look like an asteroid it's emitting a power signature. Its makeup suggests it's not a mine. Except for that fuel that the colonies use, there is no explosives present that we can detect. Just some processed metals, plastics, and electronics. My best guess is it is a drone.

I will call control and have them send out a survey team. If possible just go by it and try to act nonchalantly

(The Ark's wardroom)

Science Officer Major Wilson was updating Adm. Jackson and his command staff. The probe was definitely from the "12 Colonies". We fed everything that was in the probe into the AI system, "the AI system was, in reality, large quantum computer. It had all the knowledge of the Argon people from when the first one was created ten years before the Exodus. It got its name from the original project, the Artificial Intelligence Project."

In reality, this was the third AI system the first 2 actually retired. This system volunteered that it would continue in its present capacity until our quest was complete. The other 2 AI's after aiding in updating all AI's in the fleet of Arks chose to remain on Argon. Stating that a piece of them would be inside any quantum computer that the Aragonese would ever build and this would be the ultimate experience.

Maj. Wilson "continue Adm. Jackson interjected," it was your basic spy drone it was set up to monitor and record all our radio signals and radar telemetry. It also had a very sophisticated TV system. But the weird thing is it was starting to overwrite its data. This tells me it was well past it's time to return to the colonies or be picked up. Adm. Jackson asked if it could've malfunctioned.

Maj. Wilson replied possibly, but I think it's more likely that whoever or whatever was supposed to retrieve the data malfunctioned.

Adm. Jackson stood up, well I guess the Colonials are still interested in us Capt. Barnes, I want regular patrols to all the nearby systems I want our drones deployed and monitored. I also want you to get our scientists working on the way to detect their ships and have people stationed in outposts on all the nearby systems. Due to their numeric superiority if they do come back I don't want to be surprised. I will also update Earth to these new developments.

(Major Wilson's lab)

 **Senior Science Officer Major Wilson called his staff together;** well people the Adm. Would like us to find the home of the 12 colonies of Kobol. Senior Science Tech-Robertson said we can't monitor for radio telemetry because after about 500 light years it is lost into the background noise of the universe. Maj. Wilson stated so what can we monitor.

Robertson was a certified genius he would've been an officer long ago, but he had a problem with authority figures. But, he respected Maj. Wilson and Wilson gave him plenty of leeway.

Robertson continued well we are looking for 12 habitable planets circling a single sun, which is unlikely or 12 habitable planets in systems that are relatively close together. We should not tell the AI system what to monitor for but let it decide. One of the other Techs injected that will give us 1000 of hits if not 10,000 hits. Not really replied Robinson how many systems did we find on our journey here that had even more than one habitable planet. I say we feed it all into the AI, making sure it's tied into Cmdr. Wells telemetry array and let it run.

Three weeks later the AI system finished and Maj. Wilson had a list of 76 systems. Robertson looked at the details scans from the AI system and was pleasantly surprised with the apparent lack of habitable systems in the direction that they believe the Colonials came from; this made him feel better about the 76. A plan was drawn up for the best way to investigate the systems.

(The Arks wardroom)

Rear Adm. Berkley, formally the Cirrus CO, was assembled in the wardroom with four other newly minted admirals, in walked Adm. Jackson, gentlemen you each have a list of 15 systems that you will investigate. You are instructed to come out of hyperspace 15 to 20 light-years from each system and monitor them for signs of the Colonials. You will each have a team of science officers on board your ships they will be aiding you in monitoring for the Colonials and developing new techniques to detect ships in hyperspace. Thank you and good hunting.

Adm. Berkley's squadron had covered the first eight systems with no incidents. Science Tech-Robertson asked for a meeting with the Adm.

Okay, Robertson what do you have, well I think I found a way to find out where our other squadrons are. All five squadrons are coordinating their searches by broadcasting their locations via subspace. And I seem to be picking up gravity waves from wherever a squadron exits hyperspace. With refinement, we could use this to monitor the location of our ships. Adm. Berkley responded, I agree this will be very useful to us but how does that help us in our search for the Colonials.

That is the interesting part answered Robertson; I am also picking up disturbances in hyperspace much further out that occurs in 30 light year increments. If we go to these coordinates in three days, we should intersect with whatever it is. Adm. Berkley contacted the bridge and ordered the helm to proceed to the new coordinates. He also asked the communication officer to send a subspace to Adm. Jackson and inform him of our detour.

Adm. Berkley's squadron arrived at the new location. Robertson reported that if the anomaly stays to the 30 light year increments, they should be at this location inside of 24 hours.

Approximately 15 hours later 50 ships appeared on the Cirrus radar. Adm. Berkley barked out science officer I want scans.

CIC, what do you have, "Bridge CIC" I have 50 ships several are large ships whose profiles match Colonial battlestars.

"Bridge CIC," We can track them, Admiral.

Adm. Berkley said, XO do you have any movement, yes Adm. they seem to be moving to a spherical formation not powering up weapons or launching fighters.

But attacking them will be like grabbing a porcupine.

The communications officer informed Adm. Berkley that he was getting a message from the colonials.

Berkley replied, put it on the speaker/viewscreen.

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

This is Admiral Nagala of the Colonial Navy, please state your intentions. Admiral Berkley responded back. We have been searching for you hoping to enter into a dialog to end the current hostiles. Could we arrange a meeting? Nagala responded, "one minute please" After a few minutes Nagala came back and said, we will move an unarmed freighter halfway between our fleets. If you agree we could meet there. To which Admiral Berkley replied, that's acceptable to me.

Berkley turned to Cmdr. Barns his Ops officer and said tell, high counselor Robert Clyde it's time to go to work, and you will take charge of the fleet while I'm gone. Adm. Watters will assume overall command when onsite. He then said to Captain Roberts, Cirrus's new CO, Roberts I want you with us as you have a diplomatic background, and I think Clyde will need all the help he can get.

The Aragonese shuttle landed in the freighters flight pod and was met by three colonial marines who instructed the Aragonese to follow them to the conference room. Seated at a table were Admiral Nagala and three other officers and two people in robes one man and a woman.

Admiral Nagala started, I understand you are called Aragonese and not from earth. To which Berkley replied, yes we encountered one of your ships while gathering asteroids in a neighboring system from Earth. It attacked us and we reacted in self-defense. We would like to end these hostilities and mediate peace between you and earth. The woman in robes spoke up, I am high priestess Deanna, all this does not matter, your DNA tells us that you are human and therefore some were in your past you came from Kobol and fall under the Articles of Colonization. Nagala interjected you are asking us to believe that three different human races all with different origins just happened to show up at this one location in space. Do you know what the odds of that are?

Clyde, then said we don't question your beliefs and will let the archeologist sort out our origins, we simply want to save human lives. Nagala replied, we were also searching for you and my orders are once you except the Articles of Colonization to escort you to our home system. He then asked, for the record, I would like you to state whether you worship the Lords of Kobol. Clyde responded our people practice many different kinds of religion and our government does not interfere with anyone's choice of religion. In a shrill voice priestess, Deanna said, you reject the Lords of Kobol that is blasphemy. We have over 50 warships here and you have but five. Submit or we will take you by force, at this point 25 colonial Marines entered the conference room with guns drawn.

Berkley, the male priest said, the Lords of Kobol created the universe for us. Therefore you fall under our jurisdiction; we will retain you until you see the error of your ways. Berkley knew it was senseless to argue with them, he also knew that the Cirrus's acting CO was monitoring the situation and heard everything that transpired. Commander Barns, execute plan Z.

On the bridge of the Cirrus, Commander Barns knew what he had to do. He ordered a communication officer to have the rest of the fleet attack the colonial ships, remembering to maintain the highest practical speed with diving attacks. He then ordered the tactical officer to target the colonial ship were the meeting took place. Target engines I don't want that ship escaping with our people on board. The tactical then interjected, squadrons 2, 4 and 5 have just jumped in and are commencing attack runs on the colonials. Cmdr. Barns then said, tactical have squadron three join us at this location; tell them to start putting together a detachment of Marines to board that ship. Have our Marines coordinate with them; I believe major Winslow on the Ajax is the senior marine present and in command of the boarding party.

The Aragonese now with 15 ships began attacking the Colonials and were making short work of them. They continue their same tactic of diving on the colonial formation and then quickly entering hyperspace to attack from a different direction. Fully 15 of the colonial ships have been destroyed or disabled. The Adm. Watters on the Westchester was senior and assumed overall command of the attacking Aragonese ships he reported that two of his ships the Resolute and the Palmer have suffered moderate damage and out of an abundance of caution withdrew from the attacking fleets to recharge and repair. At this point, the communication officer said Adm. Watters, I have Adm. Nagala on the line to which Adm. Watters replied put him on the speaker. This is Adm. Nagala of the colonials of Kobol I wish to ask for terms. To which Adm. Watters replied stand down your ships and return our diplomatic party. Nagala then said I will not surrender any of my ships while I still have a viable fighting force you are aware that your party and Adm. Berkley is in our custody. I doubt that you will do anything to jeopardize the safety of your diplomats and the overall commander of your fleet. To which Adm. Watters replied you have never dealt with us before and let me make one thing perfectly clear we will destroy every last one of your ships whether they attempt to surrender or not. And if any harm comes to our people you are holding you will be tried for war crimes and most likely hung. Ask Adm. Berkley, what my standing orders are in this type of situation.

Capt. Lewiston on the Aragonese ship the ASC Fortitude came out of hyperspace directly in front of a colonial Battlestar as soon as it appeared the colonial ship fired its forward rail guns four 230 mm shells slammed into the front of the Aragonese ship. The shells were made of a special hardened alloy and carried enough kinetic energy that the force of the impact was about 3200 megajoules times 4. The shields held but all that force had to go somewhere, most of the crew in the front part of the ship was knocked off their feet. Unfortunately for the Colonials the Aragonese ship fired is forward plasma weapons at the same time. The beams went halfway through the colonial ship lengthwise, opening the compartments to space killing immediately almost half of their crew.

Capt. Lewiston immediately ordered a hard turn to port and reentered hyperspace he then asked for a situation report. The damage control officer reported that there were no fatalities but approximately 20 people had to go to sickbay for various reasons, mostly blunt force trauma. The shields were down to 62 percent, it will take us approximately 20 minutes to recharge our shields and according to the current protocol, return to battle. Capt. Lewiston then informed Adm. Watters to their situation.

As major Wilson in the assault shuttle approached the colonial ship, he saw on his sensors that a team of Colonial Marines was in the docking bay. The landing system on colonial ships consisted of two parts, the first being the landing bay, that could be open to space and this is where the vipers and raptors entered the ship.

The viper's cockpit was detachable and would be raised into the docking bay. This could be done without re-pressurizing the landing bay. The raptor had to be raised via an elevator and the landing bay would need to be pressurized for this operation.

The colonials fully expected the Aragonese to come up from the landing bay, but the Aragonese didn't go this route instead, they blew a hole in the side of the docking bay and entered that way. This caused a large number of colonials who were not in EV suits to be killed. The Aragonese soldiers quickly dispatched the rest. The Aragonese soldiers were wearing EV suits that were armored and would keep the suits on for the entire duration of the operation.

Major Wilson asked his technical Sgt. to find out where the next group of Colonial Marines was. They were located in the hallway outside the docking bay once again the Aragonese didn't do what they were supposed to do. Instead, they blew a hole into the hallway behind the colonial Marines without re-pressurizing the docking bay the atmosphere was sucked out of the hallway. This once again resulted in a large amount of colonial Marines death.

On the bridge, the colonial damage control officer reported to Adm. Nagala. The Aragonese have bordered us and opened several parts of the ship to space. They don't seem to be making any effort to close them off. And the Marine detachment has taken heavy casualties. Adm. asked that Adm. Berkley and counselor Robert Clyde be bought the bridge.

As Adm. Berkley entered a bridge, Nagala said Berkley we have Aragonese assault team on board and they are putting your lives in jeopardy. Berkley responded I have no control over them. They have their orders and will carry them out. You are their senior officer said, Nagala you can order them to listen to reason.

Adm. Berkley approached Nagala and a colonial Marine had to come between them. When you took me, hostage, you effectively took me out of the chain of command let me tell you what's going to happen now. As long as you are holding us, hostage, Adm. Watters will destroy every last one of your ships and give no quarter. Those soldiers in our assault team are going to keep blowing holes in the ship until they locate us then and only then will there be any kind of negotiation. At this time the communication officer said, I have Adm. Andino on the line. Put him on a speaker replied Nagala.

Adm. Nagala we have lost half the fleet and I recommend asking for terms some of the support ships have already jumped out. The Aragonese are forcing us into a tighter and tighter circle. We have damaged some of their ships but after the remaining ships make a few more passes even those ships return undamaged and continue attacking.

Nagala turned to, Adm. Berkley you are released from custody we are standing down you can contact your assault team and leave with them.

Adm. Berkley then said, major Wilson do you copy, Yes admiral, I am re-assuming command I am no longer in the colonials custody. I will have them bring me and the rest of my party to your location please have the shuttle ready. Are you in contact with the fleet? Yes, Adm. Came the reply, fine have Watters cease attacking under my orders, but have them stay on alert. With this Adm. Berkley returned to the Cirrus

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

In Pres. Adar's office Admiral Nagala sat across from the president as he reviewed Nagala battle report, he kept muttering to himself 42,000 dead, 32 battle stars lost or out of action. And the religious fanatics want us to engage in some crusade. Well, that's not going to happen. Admiral at your earliest convenience I want to hold a meeting with your staff and the lead scientists from the research and development department.

As Adm. Nagala left Adar's office, Adar pressed the button on his intercom.

Send in high priest Dukakis, Dukakis entered the room; he was the chief priest of the Temple of Zeus. That made him the highest ranking priest in the colonies.

Dukakis, please have a seat I asked you here to inform you that there are going to be some new ground roles for your priests on colonial Naval ships. While it is essential to have a chaplain on board; at this point, Dukakis interrupted and said, "Adar, you don't have the authority to issue any directives to my priests."

To which Adar responded, Dukakis, let me reacquaint you with some facts. Fully 30% of our population no longer believe in the gods. And over 65% do not attend Temple, But the most important statistic is that fully 82% of the people think that religion has no place in the secular lives of our people. That much it seems we do have in common with our cousins on Earth. Religion should be a private thing between an individual and his particular God. There has been a movement in the Quorum for years to limit your involvement in the everyday lives of the citizens. And if laws are on the books and not followed and not enforced by the government, it only dilutes the government's overall authority.

Your priests are taking the blame for forcing the military into battles that they could not possibly win, may I remind you that these battles took approximately 80,000 colonial lives and over 100 Battlestars lost since our first encounter with the Aragonese. I'm not going argue with you about how much of the blame you and your priests deserve, but for their interference, we would now be talking to the Aragonese instead of shooting at them.

Approximately three weeks later, Pres. Adar's met with his joint Chiefs the best scientists in the colonies and select members of the Quorum. Pres. Adar stood up and addressed the assembly I will pretty much do all the talking not that you can't interject something, but this meeting is meant to set the direction that the scientific community and military have decided we should go in. The Quorum has written new laws that were passed by the House of Lords and ratified by the people. The bottom line is the religious sector has been dramatically restricted in their interference in government and all but eliminated from military matters. All our naval ships will still have chaplains on board, but their activity will be looking after the religious needs of the people.

The scientific and industrial community will accelerate their attempts to gain parity with the Aragonese. We will primarily concentrate on three main areas the first being, plasma weapons: the second being shields and the Aragonese FTL drive. The military recognizes the advantages of having an FTL drive for long-range operation with the short FTL jump that our systems provide. For the time being, we will avoid all contact with the Aragonese and withdraw to more defensible positions in the Beta Quadrant. But our need for new planets for our expanding population still exists, therefore, Adm. Torres will take a Battlestar group and explore in the direction of the Delta Quadrant.

In Aragonese territory one month after the last encounter with the colonials.

In the conference room on Adm. Jackson flagship, Adm. Jackson met with Adm. Berkley and the commanders of the other four squadrons. Gentlemen, I read your reports and ran everything through the AI. We were looking for a way to reduce human casualties both on the colonial side and our own. For now, the only way to accomplish this is to avoid the colonials. Therefore we will stop all explorations into their territory. The exception being we will continue to send stealth drones to stay apprised of their activities.

But it seems to be the only way to avoid killing them is to avoid contact. In time hopefully, they will soften their religious zeal toward Earth.

This last battle has shown us the Terrans, as they are called, have developed some new twists to the Battlestars they recovered and rebuilt. The use of plasma weapons followed up by a rail gun bolt is very useful, and they seem to prefer the use of fighters just like the colonials more so than we do. They have successfully colonized two other planets and are moving their overcrowded population from Earth to those new colonies. We fully expect to have a long and profitable association between our two societies.

Deep space at the location of the last battle between the Aragonese and the colonials

Approximately two years later one lone colonial Battlestar sat in space at the approximate location of the last argon colonial encounter.

Adm. Jackson called for Science Officer Major Wilson and defense secretary, Robert Burns. I understand we have a colonial Battlestar sitting were our last battle took place. Do you know what they want? Burns replied no, but I think if we sent a single ship to confront them, we could find out what they want without making the situation any worse. An Aragonese destroyer, the ANS Tigershark under the command of Lieut. Cmdr. Hayes met the colonial ship.

Hayes had the Aragonese ship park within 10,000 km in front of the colonial Battlestar and came to a complete stop. Lieut. Cmdr. Hayes said Communications let's get the CO that ship on the line. Colonial Battlestar, this is the Aragonese ship ANS Tigershark can I inquire into your situation. After a few minutes, the colonial Battlestar replied with I have been sent here to both make contact and alert you to a dire situation. I have a diplomatic team on board and would like them to meet with your senior diplomats. To which Hayes replied, for now, they are going to have to communicate with me.

At this point, another individual, more or less, pushed his way in front of the colonial viewscreen and said Capt. Hayes, we've encountered another race of beings that threatens the existence of both our societies. Please contact your superiors for further instructions we did not mean to diminish your importance in all of this but time is of the essence. To which Hayes replied, that's Lieutenant Commander, wait one moment, please. After a few minutes, Lieutenant Commander Hayes returned and said, one of our battle squadrons will be here in approximately six hours, and they will have an Admiral. And a diplomatic team on board.

The colonial officer then said I am consular Gavalas perhaps since we have six hours to kill you would like to come aboard for a visit and take a tour of a Battlestar. The captain of the Battlestar Commander Adamos grabbed Gavalas by the arm and said, what are you doing they are our sworn enemies. Gavalas replied Adamos you have seen the reports we got to come to terms with these people as quickly as possible. And if we give him the standard civilian tour, it will both build some goodwill and not reveal anything while his superiors will view it as our wanting to talk and not fight. Hayes responded with I would like that may I bring another officer with me. Gavalas responded yes, have your shuttle pilot stop at the entrance to our port landing bay, for landing instructions. Hayes called out to his science officer Sherry you're with me maybe you'll be able to learn if they advanced technologically since our last encounter

The shuttle landed in the Battlestars port landing bay, three Marines and consular Gavalas greeted them. Lieutenant Commander Hayes welcome aboard the Triton. To which Hayes responded thank you consular this is my science officer Ensign Sherry Martinson. To which Gavalas smiled and replied, maybe we could lose the science officer part and introduce the Ensign as a member of your command crew. Hayes quickly noticed that the Battlestar had carpeted hallways the walls had a light colored plastic type material which covered the beams and electrical conduits. All the rooms that they entered from crews quarters, galley and other working spaces were the same. Not sure of any military significance but this did make the Battlestar seem more ergonomically pleasing than its predecessors. The only area they saw that had a science or technological purpose was a compartment they called Astro metrics.

When Ensign Martinson saw the puzzled look on Hayes's face, she pulled him aside and spoke into his ear, their keeping track of all the surrounding consolations probably for navigation. Ask me about this later. They then were led into a conference room, and on the table, there was some decanters with the dark liquid and most likely what would be called pastries on the table.

Go ahead, Lieutenant Commander Hayes, you may find our refreshments tasteful, and our medical people assure us that they will not harm you. Cmdr. Hayes poured some of the liquid out of the container and very gingerly tasted it, a smile came to his face as he says oh my God it is coffee. It looks like pastries and coffee are a universal standard for a meeting. After a few moments, an officer came into the room and at the same time, the Lieutenant Commander's communicator buzzed it seems that the battle squadron has arrived maybe I should return to my ship.

On the trip back to the ANS TigerShark, Lieutenant Commander Hayes said, Sherry, what were you going to tell me that you wanted me to wait till later to ask. Well, commander, that room we were in they were plotting the location of consolations this implied that they have a type of FTL drive that is, not point to point but more like what we use. Also, the fact that their living spaces were so much more ergonomically comfortable implies they were spending a significant amount of time in them traveling were before with their folding space type of travel they were spending most of their time either recovering from a jump or doing one.

Upon returning to his ship, Lieutenant Commander Hayes received the message from squadron commander Adm. Woodward for a meeting at his earliest convenience. Hayes put on a fresh uniform and took a shuttle to the Adm.'s flagship. Adm. Woodward had Hayes brought to his quarters. Well, Cmdr. what do we have here. To which Hayes replied, it seems the Colonials have run into another species that is bent on total domination. And they're asking for our help Woodward said, yes and no replied Hayes although I believe they would accept our help they wanted to alert us to the situation. Okay, Hayes, I want you debriefed and I will see what the Colonials have to say.

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